Heme oxygenase-1 overexpression increases liver injury after bile duct ligation in rats

Figure 9 Effects of cholestasis and HO-1 overexpression on production of TGF-β and TNFα. Livers were harvested 3 wk after bile duct ligation and snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen. TGF-β and TNFα mRNAs were assessed by RNase protection assay using cytokine template sets, as described in MATERIAL AND METHODS. Values are means ± SD (n = 4 in each group). Specific bands were quantitated by scanning densitometry and normalized to the signal of GAPDH. A: representative autoradiogram of TGF-β and TNFα mRNA expression; B: densitometric analysis of TGF-β1 mRNA expression. ^aP < 0.05 vs sham-operated groups, ^bP < 0.05 vs bile duct-ligated group receiving saline; C: densitometric analysis of TNFα mRNA expression. ^aP < 0.05 vs sham-operated groups.